Function of styrene-acrylic ester copolymer latex in cement mortar

This paper focuses on the effect of the styrene-acrylic ester copolymer (SAE) latex on the performance of cement mortar, through studying on the water-reduction and water-retention effects of the SAE latex in the mortar, and the influence of the SAE latex on the air-content and the bulk density of the fresh mortar and the bulk density, compressive and flexural strengths, shrinkage rate, water capillary adsorption and anti-penetration capacity of the hardened mortar. The experimental results show that the SAE latex has good water-reduction and water-retention effects in mortar. The SAE latex has also air entrainment effect, increasing the air content and reducing the bulk density of the fresh mortar. The apparent bulk density and dry bulk density of the hardened mortars decrease with the increase of the SAE latex/cement-ratio (mp/mc) and the change is in accordance with that for the bulk density of the fresh mortar. The SAE latex influences the development of the compressive strength but slightly on the flexural strength, and improves the toughness, shrinkage property, waterproofing quality and anti-penetration capacity of the mortar significantly.